Laws staying upbeat after loss

Sunday 18 April 2010 09:14 BST

Brian Laws

Burnley boss Brian Laws presented a defiant front after seeing his side slip deeper into relegation trouble with defeat at Sunderland.

The Clarets remain four points adrift of safety with just three games left to play, and look to be heading straight back into the Coca-Cola Championship, but Laws and his players are refusing to throw in the towel as they prepare for crunch clashes with Liverpool, Birmingham and Tottenham.

Asked about their chances, he said: "They are slim, but they are not impossible and we still take heart from teams who have done it."

He added: "It's going to take a lot of great belief in ourselves, and that's the most important thing.

"That's where we are gathering our belief from, ourselves, because nobody else is going to give us it, nobody else is believing we can do it.

"It's three games, nine points and who's to say we won't get nine points? You might just say it now, but who can guarantee what results go on on a Saturday. You can't predict them, nobody predicts what the results are going to be."

Burnley, who have now won just twice in the 16 games since Laws replaced Owen Coyle in January, found themselves 2-0 down within 41 minutes as Sunderland assumed control.

Apart from a late flurry after substitute Steve Thompson had given the visitors hope with an 82nd-minute strike, the Black Cats were rarely in any danger of surrendering the advantage given to them by Fraizer Campbell and Darren Bent.

Victory, coupled with Hull's draw at Birmingham, ensured Sunderland's top flight place for next season, and boss Steve Bruce said: "The last eight minutes or so became a little bit nervous. Overall, it would have been unjust if they had got something out of it.

"They stuck at it, to be fair to Burnley, but we should have been out of sight, really. We were close to blowing them away, but didn't take the chances we created."